Space

There is a lot of intriguing activity in the aerospace industry than is not be apparent at first look.

China’s main space launcher builder has loosened the schedule for flying a super-heavy rocket.

The U.S. Air Force says it will continue investing in the Aerojet Rocketdyne AR-1 engine as a potential replacement for the Russian-made RD-180.

The Stratolaunch satellite launching aircraft is set to begin fuel-system testing, on track for its first launch demonstration in 2019.

While SpaceX focuses on reuseable launchers, Arianespace looks to compete by drastically lowering the costs of its expendable ones.

Digital twins and digital threads will help head off production issues in advance.

Dennis Muilenburg on the New Midsize Airplane, 777X, Bombardier, Trump, Iran, China, Blue Origin and his “audacious” aftermarket plan.

In this week's Washington Outlook: The bill still faces challenges from Democrats, the bizav and general aviation communities and competition from higher congressional priorities.

For all the showmanship and hyperbole about reusable 100-passenger spaceships, there is something real behind Musk’s vision.

The U.S. Air Force’s X-37B experimental spaceplane will return to space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for the first time, the service reports.

For Aerojet Rocketdyne and Orbital, their business transformations have been occasionally painful and practically existential—but also necessary.

Truck-maker goes eVTOL; NASA’s twisting flaps; Energy kite flies; Stratolaunch rolls out.

SpaceX launches a Dragon cargo vessel assembled largely from previously flow parts and stick another first-stage landing for reuse.

The Trump administration’s attempt to opt out of the Restore-L project and transfer its technology to the private sector is raising questions and objections.

Phantom Express to demo reusable launch; NASA seeks funding for low-boom X-plane; Rocket Lab makes it to space, but not orbit; NASA develops design tools for eVTOLs

Rocket Lab says that despite not reaching its intended orbit of between 300 and 500 km on its first test launch on May 25, the Electron vehicle performed nominally throughout most of the mission.

While most of Trump’s first NASA budget mimics the Obama administration’s, there are some important differences in emphasis, such as climate science.

Despite being cut from the budget request by the Trump administration, robotics developed by NASA will still be of great use to the space industry.

By making launch more affordable, SpaceX hopes to open the door to wider experimentation in space.

President Donald Trump’s $19.1 billion fiscal 2018 spending request for NASA achieves a 0.8% decrease from current levels by terminating a robotic satellite-servicing demonstration mission and, as expected, trimming Earth-science missions.

NASA’s ambitions of reaching Mars with human explorers continue to pay dividends for Johnson Space Center, the highest funded of the agency’s 10 field centers.

Despite doubts about funding for a multibillion dollar lander to seek evidence of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa, NASA is telling those interested in providing instruments for the mission not to lose hope.

More OEM vertical integration is coming, but so are new opportunities for suppliers, including non-traditional ones.

Don’t count on a big defense spending increase this year; report finds SLS NASA’s deadline rush cost millions, and the fight over air traffic control continues.

As NASA charts a course to Mars for human explorers with ever more capable hardware and software systems, policymakers, mission managers and those who launch face some tough ethical issues.